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Boko Haram claimed Tuesday that it was behind the kidnapping of hundreds of students in northwestern Nigeria, in what appears to be a major expansion of the jihadist group’s activities into new areas.
At least 333 students remain missing since the attack on Friday night at the Government Science Secondary School for boys in Katsina state, hundreds of kilometers (miles) from the Boko Haram stronghold in northeastern Nigeria.
“I am Abubakar Shekau and our brothers are behind the kidnapping in Katsina,” the Boko Haram leader said in a voice message.
More than 100 armed men on motorcycles stormed the rural school north of Kankara city, forcing the students to flee and hide in the surrounding bush.
Several children were able to escape, but many were captured, divided into groups and taken away, residents told AFP.
#BringBackOurBoys has been trending on social media since the weekend in reference to a similar hashtag used after 276 girls were abducted by Boko Haram in 2014 in Chibok, northeast Nigeria.
The weekend’s attack was initially attributed to armed groups known locally as “bandits,” who are active in the volatile region where kidnapping for ransom is common.
The army has said that it has located the hideout of the “bandits” and that a military operation is underway.
The kidnappings occurred in the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, who condemned the attack and ordered that security in schools be stepped up. In Katsina, all schools were closed.
Tuesday’s liability claim marks a major turning point in the advancement of jihadist groups in northwestern Nigeria.
Boko Haram and a splinter group, the Islamic State in the West African Province (ISWAP), are waging an insurgency in northeast Nigeria and are believed to have only a minor presence in the northwest.
But concern has grown over jihadist incursions into the region, especially after fighters claiming to be in the northwest released a propaganda video pledging allegiance to Abubakar Shekau earlier this year.
– ‘Hit me repeatedly’ –
Buhari has made fighting Boko Haram a priority of his administration, but the security situation in northern Nigeria has deteriorated since his 2015 election.
Angry residents interrupted the Katsina state governor during a visit to the area on Saturday, while protesters greeted a government delegation led by Defense Minister Bashir Salihi-Magashi on Sunday.
Osama Aminu Maale was one of the students who escaped from the kidnappers and returned to his parents.
“There were a total of 520 of us who were taken away by the school gunmen,” the 18-year-old student told AFP by phone over the weekend.
“After they took us, we stopped inside the bus where they had the older students do a count. We count 520, ”he said.
The hostages split into groups before Maale and four others escaped.
“One of the gunmen hit me repeatedly when I couldn’t keep up with the rest of the group due to poor health before letting me go behind, giving me a chance to escape,” he said.
The Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria before spreading to neighbors such as Niger, Cameroon and Chad.
Since then, more than 36,000 people have died in Nigeria and two million have been forced to flee their homes, causing a humanitarian crisis in the region.
A regional military coalition has been formed to fight the insurgents.
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